EARTH/SPACE SCIENCE HONORS LEARNING MAP
COURSE NUMB2ER: 2001320
The Learning Map provides consistent course scope and sequence district-wide. While the instruction and resources will be based
on the needs of the students, the standards and benchmarks taught will be the same for each module. The standards and
benchmarks listed for each unit do not necessarily represent the order those standards and benchmarks are taught.
QUARTER SEQUENCE
NGSSS BENCHMARKS
CONCEPTS
Interactions within
The Universe
UNIT 1
Quarter 1
Concepts are taught and
assessed within the
context of the Nature and
Practice of Science
throughout the entire
course.
UNIT 4
UNIT 3
UNIT 2
This is achieved
through and is inherent
to the District adopted
5E instructional model
for science and
mathematics.
Star Properties
and Space Exploration
Quarter 1
Plate Tectonics and the
Energy within
Quarter 2
The Release of Earth’s
Energy-Volcanoes and
Earthquakes
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SC.912.E.5.1
SC.912.E.5.2
SC.912.E.5.5
SC.912.E.5.6
SC.912.E.5.10
SC.912.E.5.11
SC.912.P.10.10
SC.912.P.12.2
SC.912.P.12.4
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SC.912.N.1.3
SC.912.N.1.6
SC.912.N.2.1
SC.912.N.2.2
SC.912.N.2.3
SC.912.N.3.1
SC.912.N.3.5
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SC.912.E.5.3
SC.912.E.5.4
SC.912.E.5.7
SC.912.E.5.8
SC.912.E.5.9
SC.912.P.10.4
SC.912.P.10.11
SC.912.P.10.16
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SC.912.P.10.18
SC.912.P.10.19
SC.912.P.10.20
SC.912.N.1.6
SC.912.N.3.5
SC.912.N.4.1
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SC.912.E.6.1
SC.912.E.6.2
SC.912.E.6.3
SC.912.E.6.5
SC.912.E.7.3
SC.912.P.10.4
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SC.912.N.1.3
SC.912.N.1.6
SC.912.N.2.4
SC.912.N.2.5
SC.912.N.3.1
SC.912.N.3.4
SC.912.N.3.5
SC.912.N.4.1
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SC.912.E.6.2
SC.912.E.7.3
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SC.912.N.1.6
SC.912.N.3.5
Working Like a Scientist-Lab Safety and Introduction to
Science Fair
The Nature of Science
Size and Scale of the Universe
Origin of Universe and Solar System
Orbits and the Sun-Earth-Moon System
Impact Events and the Earth System
The Sun and Its Effects
Electromagnetic Spectrum
Lives of Stars
Space Exploration and Society
Earth’s Interior
Earth’s Moving Lithospheric Plates
Plate Motions, Interactions, and Boundaries
Evidence for the Theory of Plate Tectonics
Volcanoes
Earthquakes
Quarter 2
2015-2016
POLK COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Ocean Commotion
Severe Weather
UNIT 8
UNIT 6
Quarter 3
UNIT 7
UNIT 5
Surface Structures and
Processes
Quarter 3
Quarter 4
Earth’s Dynamic
Climate
Quarter 4
 SC.912.E.6.2
 SC.912.E.6.4
 SC.912.E.7.3
 SC.912.E.7.8
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SC.912.E.7.1
SC.912.E.7.2
SC.912.E.7.3
SC.912.E.7.4
SC.912.E.7.5
SC.912.E.7.3
SC.912.E.7.5
SC.912.E.7.6
SC.912.E.7.8
SC.912.P.10.4
SC.912.E.7.1
SC.912.E.7.3
SC.912.E.7.4
SC.912.E.7.7
SC.912.E.7.9
SC.912.L.15.1
SC.912.N.1.3
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SC.912.N.1.6
SC.912.N.3.5
SC.912.N.4.1
SC.912.N.4.2
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SC.912.L.15.8
SC.912.N.1.6
SC.912.N.3.5
SC.912.N.4.1
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SC.912.N.1.6
SC.912.N.3.5
SC.912.N.4.1
SC.912.N.4.2
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SC.912.N.1.4
SC.912.N.1.5
SC.912.N.1.6
SC.912.N.2.4
SC.912.N.3.1
SC.912.N.4.1
SC.912.N.4.2
Erosion and Deposition
Rivers and Drainage Basins
Slopes and Landscapes
Streams and Sediment
Glaciers and the Landscape
Sinkhole Hazards in Florida
Causes of Ocean Circulation
Deep Ocean Circulation
Surface Circulation of the Ocean
El Niño and Ocean Circulation
Weather, Climate, and El Niño
El Niño and the World Food Chain
Thunderstorms
Storm Clouds
Tracking Thunderstorms
Severe Weather Hazards
Present-Day Climate
Paleoclimates
Earth’s Climate over Time: Orbital Variations, Plate
Tectonics, and Ocean Currents
Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Concentrations and Global
Climate
Impact of Climate Change on Communities
THROUGHOUT ALL UNITS
Content is taught in context of the nature and practice of science within each unit.
This is inherent to the District adopted 5E instructional model for science and mathematics.
Practice of Science
SC.912.N.1.1 practice of science
SC.912.N.1.3 scientific claims
SC.912.N.1.4 reliability of sources
SC.912.N.1.5 similar investigation in many parts of the world with the same outcome
SC.912.N.1.6 scientific inferences
Interdisciplinary Connections
The following English Language Development, Literacy, and Mathematics standards are to be purposefully integrated and
assessed continually throughout the progression of the course.
English Language Development Standards
ELD.K12.ELL.SC.1:
English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success
in the content area of Science.
ELD.K12.ELL.SI.1:
English language learners communicate for social and instructional purposes within the school setting.
Literacy Standards
LAFS.910.SL.1.1:
2015-2016
Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and
teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9–10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and
expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
POLK COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
LAFS.910.SL.1.2:
LAFS.910.SL.1.3:
LAFS.910.SL.2.4:
LAFS.910.SL.2.5:
LAFS.910.RST.1.1:
LAFS.910.RST.1.2:
LAFS.910.RST.1.3:
LAFS.910.RST.2.4:
LAFS.910.RST.2.5:
LAFS.910.RST.2.6:
LAFS.910.RST.3.7:
LAFS.910.RST.3.8:
LAFS.910.RST.3.9:
LAFS.910.RST.4.10:
LAFS.910.WHST.1.1:
LAFS.910.WHST.1.2:
LAFS.910.WHST.2.4:
LAFS.910.WHST.2.5:
LAFS.910.WHST.2.6:
LAFS.910.WHST.3.7:
LAFS.910.WHST.3.8:
LAFS.910.WHST.3.9:
LAFS.910.WHST.4.10:
Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse media or formats (e.g., visually,
quantitatively, orally) evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source.
Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, identifying any fallacious
reasoning or exaggerated or distorted evidence.
Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that listeners
can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate
to purpose, audience, and task.
Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in
presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts, attending to the precise
details of explanations or descriptions.
Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; trace the text’s explanation or depiction of a
complex process, phenomenon, or concept; provide an accurate summary of the text.
Follow precisely a complex multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements,
or performing technical tasks, attending to special cases or exceptions defined in the text.
Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are
used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to grades 9–10 texts and topics.
Analyze the structure of the relationships among concepts in a text, including relationships among key
terms (e.g., force, friction, reaction force, energy).
Analyze the author’s purpose in providing an explanation, describing a procedure, or discussing an
experiment in a text, defining the question the author seeks to address.
Translate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text into visual form (e.g., a table
or chart) and translate information expressed visually or mathematically (e.g., in an equation) into
words.
Assess the extent to which the reasoning and evidence in a text support the author’s claim or a
recommendation for solving a scientific or technical problem.
Compare and contrast findings presented in a text to those from other sources (including their own
experiments), noting when the findings support or contradict previous explanations or accounts.
By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend science/technical texts in the grades 9–10 text complexity
band independently and proficiently.
Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.
Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/
experiments, or technical processes.
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to
task, purpose, and audience.
Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new
approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience.
Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing
products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display
information flexibly and dynamically.
Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a selfgenerated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize
multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced
searches effectively; assess the usefulness of each source in answering the research question; integrate
information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and following a
standard format for citation.
Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for reflection and revision) and shorter time frames (a
single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Mathematics Standards
MAFS.912.NQ.1.1:
2015-2016
Use units as a way to understand problems and to guide the solution of multi-step problems; choose and
interpret units consistently in formulas; choose and interpret the scale and the origin in graphs and data
displays.
POLK COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
MAFS.912.NQ.1.3:
2015-2016
Choose a level of accuracy appropriate to limitations on measurement when reporting quantities.
POLK COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS